


brittle // heirloom

by stellarshocks (cherrySprinkles)



Series: Lady of the Sky AU [2]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Chronic Pain, F/M, Lavellan/Bull child, Post-Trespasser DLC, Vivienne-Inquisitor friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2019-01-05 01:08:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12179931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrySprinkles/pseuds/stellarshocks
Summary: the iron bull watches his kadan become brittle and there is very little he can do.





	brittle // heirloom

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes everything hurts all the time and you have to shove that onto your OCs so they can suffer with you.  
> Some speculation on Knight-Enchanters sprinkled in there, none of that's canon. 
> 
> Also not beta-read, so you have been warned.

The brittleness starts setting in around her thirties. The Iron Bull watches with growing worry as his  _kadan_ slowly begins to fall apart. Sometimes it makes sense; training is hard and he pushes her as far as he knows she can take it — except one day, she can't. One day she parries his blow and her staff clatters loudly as it falls to the ground, Tamlin's eyes growing wide before she crumples into a whimpering heap on the ground. It takes him less than a heartbeat to be beside her, big hands carefully roaming, trying to find the source of her pain.  
One of her shoulders is out of its socket and the Iron Bull is torn between guilt and a worried curiosity: what brought this on? He knows she can take a hit like this easily if she parries, he has seen her do so quite often in recent times.  
They both put it off as exhaustion. And maybe exhaustion might even have been the cause but they both chose to underestimate it greatly. Over the course of the next few months the days on which Tamlin can endure training decrease and barely a year later, little Herah has completely switched to lessons with Vivienne.

 

“It might be the effects of bearing the anchor,” Dorian speculates, watching his friend play with her daughter in the orchard of his borderland mansion. Bull draws his eyebrows together.  
“She mentioned something about how they used to make sure Knight-Enchanters don't outlive Templars. The Chantry wouldn't want their mages to grow too powerful, after all.”  
“Then it might be both.” The magister sighs, both men completely ignoring the game of chess they'd started not too long ago ( _Bull would've been winning if Dorian weren't such a cheat anyway_ ).  
“Would explain why Vivienne and Helaine are still well despite their age and Tamlin's symptoms are already showing.”  
The Iron Bull grunts, eyes trained on the elf and the little Vashoth girl giggling underneath the plum trees. He has seen his lover vulnerable and tired many times but never has he imagined she could face something debilitating she couldn't fight.  
The missing arm had taken her a long time to digest and there were still days when she felt phantom pains or its lack with a devastating clarity, but they'd found an ironbark prosthesis, courtesy of Varric and his viscount contacts.

This, however, is a pain he doesn’t know how to alleviate.

 

Eventually, there come days when she can hardly get out of bed without crying. Herah tries her best to help around their little house, scurrying around her parents, always waiting for new requests. Bull knew Tamlin loathed to put her responsibilities on her daughter's shoulders and there were times it was hard to convince her at all that she was doing a good job as a mother.

Having Vivienne around helps. While her duties as First Enchanter of Montsimmard takes a lot of her time she made sure to visit every two weeks or so, giving the former Inquisitor stern but well-meaning pep talks. Vivienne has never been a woman to mince her words and maybe that is what ultimately motivates Tamlin to push aside her self-pity and do the best she can — regardless of what that comprises in that instant.  
“Herah is eleven and a very capable of taking care of basic chores,” the Iron Bull had once overheard the First Enchanter chide his lover.   
“Do not assume your daughter is not able to take over responsibilities.”  
“Vivienne–“  
“You are a mother, not a housewife, my dear. You are to raise her, not to spoil her. Washing plates or doing the laundry will only be beneficial to Herah and you seem to forget that the Iron Bull is usually nearby. She will never be in grave danger.”  
The only thing that kept him from barging into the room and pulling his  _kadan_ close had been the knowledge that once Tamlin had burst into tears Vivienne had been there to do exactly that.  
“Oh, darling. We all wish we knew how to do more. You don't have to carry this on your own.”

 

On the day Herah turns fifteen Tamlin gifts her the lazurite Spirit Blade hilt she had crafted when she'd first started training.  
“A certain First Enchanter has told me you are working on expanding your Spirit Blade into an ax shape.”  
Herah's eyes widen incredulously, hands cradling the gift to her chest.  
“You will need more material than what you have right now.”  
“Mother, but–”  
“I have no more use for it.” The silent ' _I have become a liability_ ' hangs heavily in the room and for a moment the Iron Bull fears the bitterness of it might taint Herahs joy. Instead, he watches with pride as his daughter leans down and pulls her mother into her arms for a firm but gentle hug.

“Thank you so, so much. It means a lot to me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Herah is called Herah because I'm not original enough to think of proper child names. She's also not Bull's or Tamlin's biological daughter but that doesn't really matter here.  
> Vivienne is the honorary grandmother and she hates being called "gran". Herah does it anyway.
> 
> Please come talk Dragon Age/your OCs with me over on [tumblr](http://suzumicchi.tumblr.com).


End file.
